`Cousin` Shot 3 Times

Man Held

POMPANO BEACH — A Pompano Beach man remained in critical condition Monday night while another man, claiming to be his cousin and suspected of shooting him three times, was being held without bond in the Dade County Jail, police said.

Gimanco DiNorscio, 44, was taken to Humana Hospital-Cypress Sunday after he was shot with a silencer-equipped, .22-caliber automatic handgun at his Palm- Aire apartment in the 4000 block of North Cypress Drive, said Capt. Vincent Corrao.

Police charged Joseph Benjamin Alonzo, who lives in the Cypress Bend subdivision across from Palm-Aire, with attempted first-degree murder and armed burglary of an occupied dwelling. Alonzo said he is related to the shooting victim, although DiNorscio denied it, Corrao said.

``Alonzo says he is a cousin, but (DiNorscio) says, `I don`t know who he is,` `` Corrao said.

Alonzo, 43, of the 2200 block of Cypress Bend Drive, was taken into custody Sunday night in North Miami Beach, where he fled in a cab after the shooting, Corrao said.

``Right now, we`re ruling out robbery as a motive,`` Corrao said. ``We`re getting a lot of conflicting information from the victim and the subject. It`s still under investigation.``

DiNorscio, a self-employed jeweler, was in his bedroom and his daughter, Roe, was sleeping in the living room when she was awakened by gunshots about 4:40 p.m. Roe, 18, told police when she saw Alonzo standing by the apartment door, she jumped up and pushed him out and locked the door.

Alonzo then ran out of the building and asked several people where he could summon a taxi, police said. Alonzo was leaving in a cab as police arrived and police officer Robert Holdorff got the number even though it was not known then that Alonzo was a suspect in the case. Police called the cab company and learned Alonzo was dropped off at a house in North Miami Beach, Corrao said.

``With (Holdorff`s) swiftness, we were able to go down there, set up surveillance and nab this guy right away,`` Corrao said.

Pompano Beach police, working with Metro-Dade officers, surrounded the house and saw Alonzo and another unidentified man walking out at about 8 p.m. However, when the pair spotted police, they ran back inside and called another cab, Corrao said.

When Alonzo and the other man, who was not charged, ran back outside and tried to get into the cab, police took them into custody, Corrao said.

Police found the silencer in DiNorscio`s apartment, but a search of the shooting scene and the North Miami Beach house failed to turn up the handgun, Corrao said.

Alonzo, who police said may be enrolled in a Pompano Beach methadone program, is already awaiting trial next month on charges of possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, police said.

Police found the drugs when they searched Alonzo following a 1983 burglary near his former Fort Lauderdale residence in the 2300 block of Southeast Eighth Street, they said.